Often an Orphan
Often an Orphan is a 1949 Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Chuck Jones. Plot The cartoon opens with a car driving up near a farm for a picnic and a man coming out and the dog Charlie coming out shortly after him. The man throws a stick, and when Charlie is off getting it, the man packs up and leaves in his car, deliberately leaving the dog behind. After Charlie is dumped, he tries various tricks to attract new owners from the people driving along the road. After three failures in various ways, he hears Porky Pig singing and decides to go talk to him. He annoys Porky though as he says he is 50 % various dogs but is mostly a Labrador Retriever. He eventually drives Porky crazy and is kicked off his property. A series of gags then ensues with Charlie trying to become Porky's dog, with them all failing until Porky is about to kick Charlie out but is stopped by a nearby humane society worker, who is spying on Porky, who does not want to get in trouble with the law. Porky then sings Rock-a-bye Baby as he carries Charlie back and puts Charlie down. After the Humane Society worker leaves, Porky demands that Charlie leaves, but Charlie sadly and dramatically pleads Porky not to kick him out, as he always wanted to live in the country, and not the city, while Porky finally feels ashamed of himself and his actions: :Charlie Dog: All my life I've dreamed of the day I could go and live in the country. I'm not strong. I need lots of fresh air, and milk, and cream... Coughs a-a-and fresh leafy veggie-tables! Sobs :Porky: B-b-b-but I - :Charlie Dog: Good, clean, wholesome farm living! Sobs :Porky: B-b-b-but I - :Charlie Dog: And now... Sniffs Now... Now that I got a chance to regain my health, you wanna send me back to the city. The city! I can see it all now. It's high towers! Cold, cruel, ominous! Closing down on ya! From every side till ya can't breathe! Closer! Closer! to choke Ya can't breathe...! The traffic! Ya can't think! BEEP BEEP! BEEP BEEP! LOOK OUT FOR THAT TRUCK! HONK HONK! LOOK OUT FOR THAT TAXI! BOINNNG! BREEP-BREEP! AROOOOGAH! HONK HONK! BEEP BEEP! Ah...! Hark. What's that? Look! It's the towers! THEY'RE FALLING! then collapses onto ground Porky finally feels sorry for Charlie's traumatic experience in the city and tricks Charlie into accepting him as a pet and puts him in a "sleeping bag" (which is actually a golf bag) which he promptly shuts and sends Charlie off to Scotland in it. However, when Porky returns Charlie is there in Scottish attire complete with a bagpipe and he eventually drives Porky into accepting him as a pet with the bagpipe's annoying music. Porky promptly suggests a picnic afterwards and he decides to head to the middle of a desert to do it. As Porky unpacks the food and calls Charlie out to catch the stick he has, Charlie comes running out. Porky proceeds to throw the stick and Charlie runs to the car instead of going after the stick and drives off, deliberately leaving Porky behind. Porky then becomes angry and starts going crazy, acting a like a dog and is picked up by the county dog catcher, who picks him up and puts him in the back with the other dogs where he barks with them as the cartoon irises out. Gallery Trivia *The cartoon was reissued in the 1959-60 season, evident from WARNER BROS without a dot on the BR opening. The opening AND ending are replaced, because most of the cartoons reissued in the 1959-64 season had both replaced. *While Charlie is ranting about the city he says, "The towers! They're falling!" which people on the internet assume is a prediction of 9/11/2001. An entire video about the quote was uploaded to YouTube in September 2011. The video has since been pulled offline. Category:Merrie Melodies shorts Category:Merrie Melodies Category:Blue Ribbon Category:Blue Ribbon shorts Category:Porky Pig shorts Category:Porky Pig Category:Charlie Dog shorts Category:Charlie Dog Category:Porky and Charlie shorts Category:Directed by Chuck Jones Category:Looney Tunes Category:Looney Tunes shorts Category:Warner Bros. Animation Category:Warner Bros. Cartoons Category:Vitaphone short films Category:1949 Category:1949 shorts Category:1949 films Category:Shorts Category:Films Category:Animated shorts Category:Chuck Jones Enterprises Category:1940s shorts Category:1940s Category:1940s films Category:Cartoons directed by Chuck Jones Category:Produced by Eddie Selzer Category:Cartoons produced by Eddie Selzer Category:Story by Michael Maltese Category:Written by Michael Maltese Category:Cartoons written by Michael Maltese Category:Animated by Phil Monroe Category:Animation by Phil Monroe Category:Cartoons animated by Phil Monroe Category:Animated by Ben Washam Category:Animation by Ben Washam Category:Cartoons animated by Ben Washam Category:Animation by Ken Harris Category:Animated by Ken Harris Category:Cartoons animated by Ken Harris Category:Animation by Lloyd Vaughan Category:Animated by Lloyd Vaughan Category:Cartoons animated by Lloyd Vaughan Category:Layouts by Robert Gribbroek Category:Backgrounds by Peter Alvarado Category:Cartoon layouts by Robert Gribbroek Category:Cartoons with backgrounds by Peter Alvarado Category:Film Editing by Treg Brown Category:Cartoons with sound effects by Treg Brown Category:Voice Characterizations by Mel Blanc Category:Voiced by Mel Blanc Category:Voices by Mel Blanc Category:Cartoons with voices by Mel Blanc Category:Vocal Effects by Mel Blanc Category:Music by Carl Stalling Category:Musical Direction by Carl Stalling Category:Cartoons with music by Carl Stalling